Eric Johnston - The Japan Times

November 22, 2024

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Eric Johnston

JAPAN / ELECTION 2003

Nov 4, 2003

Candidates pile on abduction bandwagon

OSAKA -- It was an unusually warm day in late October when a small crowd gathered around a candidate speaking outside Izumigaoka Station near Kansai airport.

JAPAN

Oct 30, 2003

Aum bred social cult of fear, passion for security

OSAKA -- The trial of Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara effectively concludes when his lawyers present their closing arguments before the Tokyo District Court on Thursday and Friday.

BUSINESS

Oct 29, 2003

U.S. southeast interested in hydrogen cars

OSAKA -- A two-day meeting here between government and business representatives from seven U.S. states and Japan concluded Tuesday with discussion focusing on the future of the auto industry, especially the introduction of hydrogen fuel cells.

BUSINESS

Oct 28, 2003

Japan-U.S. trade meeting in upbeat mood

OSAKA -- The two-day 27th Annual Joint Meeting of the Japan-United States Southeast Association began here Monday with participants upbeat about recent economic trends in both countries.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Oct 21, 2003

Kin of suspected abductees fight uphill war

OSAKA -- On the morning of July 7, 1973, 18-year-old Noriko Furukawa of Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, left home for a beauty parlor appointment without telling her mother, with whom she had promised to go shopping that afternoon.

JAPAN

Sep 27, 2003

Peruvians divided over Fujimori

OSAKA -- With Japan facing mounting international pressure to extradite disgraced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, the nation's Peruvian community is divided on the matter.

JAPAN

Sep 9, 2003

Osaka's Ohta announces she will seek second term

OSAKA -- Osaka Gov. Fusae Ohta formally announced Monday that she will seek a second term when her current term expires in February 2004.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Sep 6, 2003

Kin of Ikeda stabbing victims step ahead

OSAKA -- Following the massacre of eight children in June 2001 at Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka Prefecture, the victims' parents found empathy and understanding from across the Pacific.

JAPAN

Aug 21, 2003

Chemical weapons as much a threat as nuclear proliferation

OSAKA -- Chemical and biological weapons falling into the hands of individuals or small bands of terrorists is as much a threat as nuclear weapons being developed by rogue states, delegates at U.N. disarmament talks warned Wednesday.

JAPAN

Jul 26, 2003

Chongryun tax breaks face hard scrutiny

OSAKA -- For nearly half a century, the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryun) has been the primary voice of the North Korean community in Japan, representing nearly 200,000 people.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Jul 20, 2003

Osaka braces itself for festival fallout

OSAKA -- Osaka's annual Tenjin Matsuri festival, held in late July every year, draws tens of thousands of visitors and is considered one of the country's largest and most popular summer events. But this year, city officials are worried that once the party is over, the streets will look like a rock star's...

JAPAN

Jul 15, 2003

Protesters call for Aum members' eviction

OSAKA -- Some 400 people took part in a protest rally Monday to have Aum Shinrikyo followers evicted from the cult's headquarters in Nishinari Ward, Osaka.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Jul 6, 2003

Buried treasure: the mysteries and majesty of Nara

NARA -- At the end of 2001, the Emperor made a comment that received relatively little attention in Japan but one that will, without a doubt, stand as one of the most significant statements of his reign. In speaking about Japan's often troubled relations with the Korean Peninsula, the Emperor noted that...

JAPAN

Jun 27, 2003

Takuma's final defense for massacre: insanity

OSAKA -- In an emotional, six-hour closing argument that ended with quotations from the Greek tragedy "Antigone," lawyers for Mamoru Takuma, who has admitted to massacring eight elementary school students in 2001, said he is not guilty by reason of insanity.

JAPAN

Jun 27, 2003

Takuma's final defense for massacre: insanity

OSAKA -- In an emotional, six-hour closing argument that ended with quotations from the Greek tragedy "Antigone," lawyers for Mamoru Takuma, who has admitted to massacring eight elementary school students in 2001, said he is not guilty by reason of insanity.

JAPAN

Jun 27, 2003

Takuma's final defense for massacre: insanity

OSAKA -- In an emotional, six-hour closing argument that ended with quotations from the Greek tragedy "Antigone," lawyers for Mamoru Takuma, who has admitted to massacring eight elementary school students in 2001, said he is not guilty by reason of insanity.

JAPAN

Jun 10, 2003

Banning ferry visits seen as futile

OSAKA -- Experts on North Korean issues say that simply banning port calls by the North Korean ferry Man Gyong Bong-92 would not stop shipments to the reclusive state of sensitive materials like devices that can be used for missile development.

BUSINESS

Apr 24, 2003

Work to be done in Kansai to attract cash

OSAKA -- Kansai offers great potential for foreign direct investment -- but numerous problems are deterring foreign firms from doing business in the region, according to American and Japanese participants at a seminar Wednesday in Osaka.

JAPAN

Apr 17, 2003

Lawyers bid to curb sex harassment

OSAKA -- The Osaka Bar Association plans to adopt new internal rules designed to crack down on sexual harassment.

JAPAN

Apr 13, 2003

Six months on, access to abductees remains an issue

OSAKA -- On Tuesday, six months will have passed since the five Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in 1978 returned home, an event that most Japanese media rated the No. 1 news story of 2002.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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